The Solidarity Movement

The Polish trade union that became a mass movement and helped end communist rule in Poland.

Background

Poland's economy was in crisis in the late 1970s, with debt, shortages and price rises. The election of the Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyła as Pope John Paul II in 1978 and his visit in 1979 strengthened national and religious confidence.

Course of events

A strike at the Gdańsk shipyard in August 1980, led by the electrician Lech Wałęsa, forced the government to sign the Gdańsk Agreement and to allow the first independent trade union in the Soviet bloc. Solidarity grew to around ten million members. Martial law in December 1981 banned it, but the movement survived underground.

Legacy

Round Table negotiations in 1989 led to partly free elections in June, which Solidarity won decisively. Wałęsa became president in 1990, and the Polish example encouraged change across Central Europe.